Professor Nick Butler, a former adviser when Gordon Brown was Prime Minister, said surging oil prices mean people in the UK should work from home more often
The government has issued a response after an expert suggested people in the UK should work from home more. Professor Nick Butler, who was an adviser when Gordon Brown was Prime Minister, said the policy on working from home should be enforced to tackle energy shortage in the wake of the war in Iran.
Professor Butler was speaking on Times Radio and made the comments after US-Israeli military action in Iran since February has seen the price of oil reach record levels, with prices up more than 60% so far this year as the blockade of the vital shipping route in the Strait of Hormuz continues
He said: “Some countries, I think particularly in Asia where the crisis has hit earliest, they’re taking an extra day a week at home. People are being encouraged to work at home and I think you have to test now whether there’s a willingness. And as I read the behavioural science, people do respond.
“They don’t all do it perfectly, but they respond if other people are responding.” Asked if the government should issue recommendations to work from home, he said: “Yes, I think that that would be a perfectly sensible measure.”
Professor Butler also warned he believes Diesel prices could increase above £2 per litre. He said: “It could go a good deal north of that. The jet fuel prices doubled, and I think that could go further north as well.
“I think there’s been a degree of complacency and a belief that Mr (Donald) Trump would always come back into line and there would be a deal, and then everything would be OK.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero has issued a statement and said no issues with fuel supply have been reported. They said: “Petrol stations in the UK are being supplied as normal and we have a diverse and resilient supply.
“Both the AA and Fuels Industry UK have been clear that fuel production and imports are continuing across the UK as usual with no issues being reported.”
Figures show most of the UK’s crude oil resources is sourced from the United States (30%) and Norway (27%), supplemented by smaller volumes from other producers.
Professor Butler’s comments come as hopes have risen for renewed talks between the United States and Iran. US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that a second round of talks could happen “over the next two days”, telling the New York Post the negotiations could be held again in Islamabad as diplomats worked through back channels to arrange them.
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said it is “highly probable” that talks will restart, citing a meeting he had with Pakistan’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar.
The office of Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, said he would travel to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday as his country pushes to mediate new talks and to Turkey for the Anatalya Peace Forum, which starts on Friday.
Oil prices fell on hopes for an end to fighting, and in the US stocks surged close to records set in January. The war, now in its seventh week, has jolted markets and rattled the global economy as shipping has been cut off and air strikes have torn through military and civilian infrastructure across the region.
